


The Portal

by WordStorm



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-05
Updated: 2014-07-05
Packaged: 2018-02-07 15:00:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1903395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WordStorm/pseuds/WordStorm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a short story that I wrote one time for school. That's all there is to say, summary-wise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Portal

The Portal

They were walking up the path, heading for the clearing that had been made in the Valley field. Usually they would drive to the clearing, but apparently they didn’t feel like doing that that day, for they were going to have a picnic. They did not know that they were being watched, and had been watched for the last five days, by a young woman that was crouching, invisible, in a tree.

“Miiiicheeeleee!” one of them said.

“Miiiiillieeeeee!” what looked like her younger sister replied with a grin.

“Girls!” a woman joined in. “Stop bickering.”

“Mooooooooom!” the two girls said simultaneously.

“We’re not bickering.” Michelle told her.

“No, Michelle just said that she thought I wasn’t wearing the right clothes for a family picnic.” Millie said sarcastically. The watching woman noted that the one called Millie was wearing something that looked like it belonged in the world and era of the her home: a belted tunic, and a hooded cloak. ‘Maybe that one could help me get home’ the watching woman thought. Five days ago, she had been wandering the woods where she lived, had sat on a tree stump, apparently pushed something, and then she was standing in this strange place with no way to get back.

She looked to the others in the small group. Aside from the one called Michelle, there were two other children, one was about the same age as the one called Michelle and was called Arice, and the other was very young, and was called Ellie. Aside from the one called Millie, there was only one other adolescent, a male called Dakoda, who looked to be sibling to the girl called Arice. Then there were the three adults. The first two were the eldest, a male called Rob or Grandpa and a female called Rosie or Grandma. The third was called Tonia, and obviously the mother of the ones called Millie and Michelle.

The watching woman thought, ‘The eldest one, Rosie, might be the one to help me get home, along with the eldest daughter of the one called Tonia. Yes, yes! Those two are the ones, I think.’ And she silently leapt to the next tree to keep a good eye on the Humans, for that is what she figured they were; and to come up with her plan to get the two she had picked out, away from the rest. Maybe if she…no, that wouldn’t do.Perhaps…no. She huffed in frustration. ‘Why can I not think of anything?!’ she thought angrily. ‘I’ll just have to wait.’ She turned her attention back to the picnickers, who were still oblivious to her presence.

“You know Michelle, it really doesn’t matter what I wear to a family picnic, as long as it is appropriate.” The one called Millie was saying. “But I am sorry for snapping at you earlier.”

“I forgive you.” Michelle said, and they continued talking as before. The watching woman tuned out slightly until, all of a sudden, she heard a familiar name: Siuil-Sinead Shardstone. That got her attention. What did the Humans on this planet know about the Wild Queen?

“In my story, Siuil-Sinead is the Queen of the Wild Folk,…” The one called Millie started to describe the Queen’s looks, personality, and past. The watching woman was surprised. How in the Heavens did this girl know so much?! And every bit of what the girl said was the truth. That one was definitely coming with her. It would not do for anyone on this Earth to know about the things that this girl was talking about. The watching woman turned her attention to the other she wanted to help her: the one called Rosie. Rosie was sitting cross-legged on the ground, knitting. The watching woman raised an eyebrow. There were a short supply of knitters in the Wild Folk clan that she belonged to, so mayhap both of them would be traveling to her home with her, if she could manage it. Then the watching woman saw her chance to snatch the two. She dropped out of the tree, sprouted her wings, swooped down, and grabbed the two female Humans, leaving doubles of them where they had sat, which should fool the others for a while. She flew with them to a very small clearing, just out of sight and hearing of the other picnickers. She set the two down gently, retracted her wings, and turned herself visible. The one called Millie stood and glared at her.

“Who are you? And what do you want?” the girl demanded. “With what you just did, I’m not sure you are supposed to be real.”

“Calm down. My name is Aventurine Feldspar, I am one of the Wild Folk, and I want you two to help me to get home.”

Millie looked completely surprised. “I thought that…never mind.”

Then the one called Rosie spoke. “And how are we supposed to help you get home? And how have the others not noticed that we are gone?”

Aventurine smiled. “I will answer your second question first. I have placed doubles of you where you were. They will not notice that you are gone until we are through the portal.”

“Until we are through the portal?! We are going with you?! Why?!” the two Humans asked simultaneously.

“Well, you are a danger to Terrastella if you stay here and make us known” Aventurine replied, pointing at Millie. “And you,” she continued, now pointing at Rosie. “You will be useful to the my clan for many reasons, for one, you can knit. There are not many of us who can do that.”

Millie tried to interrupt, but Aventurine stopped her. “Now we must go to the portal, and you two will get to figure it out. By the way, Rosie, I got your knitting bag.” She handed said bag to a very startled Rosie. Then Aventurine turned them all invisible, sprouted her wings, picked up the two Humans, and flew to the portal. It was a stump, shaped like a chair, a throne to be precise. She set them down, and said, “Let’s get this done.”

Millie and Rosie walked up onto the portal and started searching it for clues on how to activate it. Then Rosie spotted a piece of wood sticking out of the top that looked suspiciously like a lever. She looked closer, and, sure enough it was a lever.

“I found it.” She said. Millie’s head appeared from behind the portal, which was where she had been searching, and she came around and stood on the seat. Aventurine joined them, and pulled the lever before the two Humans could do anything about it. There came a pulling sensation, then everything turned white. Then they were surrounded by a swirl of color, then a landscape came into view. It was not the one that Aventurine was looking for, so she kept holding the lever down. That repeated about five more times until they came to the portal gateway nearest Aventurine’s clan’s dwelling. Only then did she release the lever.

Millie and Rosie looked around. They were in a tiny clearing, surrounded by enormous trees. The lush grass under their feet once they stepped off of the stump was soft, and speckled with sweet-smelling white flowers. Millie knelt down and felt one; it was silky-smooth, and slightly slippery.

“What are these?” she asked Aventurine.

“Those are Moonwater flowers. They are useful for certain spells and potions.” Aventurine replied. “They also make good decorations.” She grinned for a second, showing barely pointed white teeth. “Let’s get going! You two, being Human, and not trained in the Wild Ways, should not be out here in the dark.”

Millie and Rosie looked at the sky. As Aventurine had hinted, it was getting dark. The two Humans followed the Wild Maiden through the trees, until they came to an impenetrable wall of vines, trees, and other plants. Aventurine promptly went to the closest tree and pressed a knot in the trunk. A door opened up, and they went through. The Humans were greeted with a sight unlike any other.

The tall trees scattered through the clearing were wide, with dark golden-brown bark and deep green leaves. The vibrant green grass was soft under their feet, and on this side of the plant wall were sweet-smelling flowers: Moonwater, roses, violets, and many others, including about five types that did not exist on Earth. There was a singing waterfall, and a large deep blue pond with water-lilies near the shore, and silver fish swimming in the depths. Above all that, behind the waterfall, there was a cave of great size. Of the many tree-houses in the branches above, there was one that actually extended into the cavern. It was the most interesting of the tree-houses, for it looked almost like a palace, what with the extravagant carving and domed roofs.

Aventurine walked towards and into the cave, followed by Rosie and Millie. There were even more dwellings in here. Built onto ledges in the cave, these homes were of basically the same design as the ones in the trees outside the cave, save that these were of stone. There was the faint sound of metal tools hitting stone, and Rosie supposed that someone was mining. The atmosphere was very different in the cavern than out in the glen. There was the sound of blacksmithing, the smell of horses and stables, the hardness of the rock under the feet after the soft grass. It was darker in the cave, lit with many torches and the light from outside though it was. Whereas there had been pastures out in the glen, the stables and other housings for animals, were here.

The other Wild Folk had started to notice Aventurine and the two Human females that she had brought with her. They had started to whisper and point, but Aventurine kept her head high, and glared at the watchers. She led the Humans to the stairs that went up to the Queen’s home, and then to the door itself. She knocked on the heavy oak door. Millie noticed that said door was covered with elaborate carvings of vines, leaves, flowers, and assorted animals, and had small jewels set for the eyes of the animals. The door opened of it’s own accord after a few moments, and the three walked inside, to a room with many doors.

“The Queen will see you, Miss Feldspar.” Came a voice from nowhere in particular. “She is in the Throne Room.”

Aventurine thanked the disembodied voice and headed for the door closest on the left, with Millie and Rosie following. It swung open of it’s own accord, and they were greeted by a melodic, yet stern voice.

“Aventurine Feldspar, where have you been? And why do you have two Humans with you?”

Aventurine proceeded to tell the Queen what had been going on for the last five days, while Millie and Rosie stood quietly behind her.

When the tale was over, the Queen addressed Millie. “Miss Feldspar tells me you know…things.” She said. “Prove it. Who am I?”

Millie looked increasingly nervous, and hesitated for a moment, then she straightened to her full height and said “You are Siuil-Sinead Mary Shardstone, daughter of Ana Ruby Gloryn and Hemeth Paul Shardstone, and Queen of the Belith Clan of the Wild Folk. You are unmarried, and so have no children. You were born in Venem, Ceamar, on May 18, in the year 1400 in the Fourth Age.” She said. “Should I go on?”

“There is no need. You have proven enough.” Queen Siuil-Sinead told her, then addressed Aventurine. “I do not approve you just taking people from their homes like you did.” Aventurine looked down, chastened. The Queen continued, “They may stay for a period of five years, teaching what they know, and learning what they can. After that, you, Miss Feldspar, must return them to the exact moment after you snatched them, no earlier and no later. They will go back to the ages they were, but they will retain all that they learned and acquired here. Now go.” she dismissed them.

Over the next five years, Millie and Rosie taught the Wild Folk of Earth, and in turn, learned the Wild Ways. When the time came for them to leave, Millie arranged with the Queen to have all of the weapons (practice ones included) , trinkets, and clothes that she had received, sent to her at her home; for it would look stranger for her to all of a sudden to have all of this stuff. Rosie did the same, though she did not receive any weapons, by her choice. “If I want to spar with anyone, I can borrow an extra of Millie’s” she said.

They were each given, as a gift from the Queen, a Portal Medallion, so that they could visit whenever they wanted. Millie also asked for the materials to make one, for they could not be found on Earth, and part of the Wild Ways that Rosie and Millie learned was how to make Portal Medallions. After they had said their goodbyes, they stepped onto the Portal, Aventurine pushed the lever, and they were gone. After the white, color swirl, and other places the Portal connected to, they were finally home. As they walked off the portal stump, a feeling of happiness overtook them. They were home! After five years, they were really Home! They went back to where they had been sitting, and everything went on as if they had never left. But, Millie and Rosie knew, and were not surprised at all, when, a week later, packages arrived in the mail, with their names on them in a clear flowing hand, and the only return address was a name: Aventurine Feldspar.

**  
**  
The End 


End file.
